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THE FIRST TIME KRYSTAL HAD walked into 14 Valentine Place she’d felt at home. If houses had personalities—which Krystal believed they did—this one’s was warm and inviting and definitely female, just like its owner, Leonie Donovan.
Contentment resonated in the polished wood floors and mahogany-trimmed walls. Krystal noticed it every time she stepped through the front door. Her landlady said it was because it had been home to a happy family. Three generations of Donovans had lived in the house and there’d been no divorce, no bitter battles over who owned what, no kids coming and going in split-custody arrangements.
It was only after Leonie’s husband had died unexpectedly that the big old Victorian structure had been converted into a boardinghouse. Everyone understood why Leonie had decided to rent the rooms to women. She’d raised four sons and had reached a point in her life where she wanted to connect with the feminine side of life.
Krystal had been one of the first women to rent a room and, like everyone else who would live at 14 Valentine Place, was treated like a member of a family. It was an extended family that included Leonie’s sons, her daughters-in-law and her grandson. It was a family rich in history, just like the house, and hearing the Donovan brothers talk about their childhoods reminded her how very different their lives had been from hers.
That’s because home to her had been a series of house trailers, none of them double-wide. What little furniture they’d had was either rented or purchased at a garage sale or flea market. There had been no family heirlooms handed down from generation to generation. While Leonie’s home often smelled of lemon-scented furniture polish, the mobile homes where Krystal had lived had reeked of stale cigarette smoke.
Not that Krystal had been unhappy with her childhood—she hadn’t. It was just very different from the one the Donovan boys had experienced, and not just because they lived in a house with a concrete foundation and plaster walls.
She’d grown up in a house of women. She’d never known her father, she didn’t have a brother and she seldom saw her grandfather. If her mother had men friends, she and her sister Carly never saw them.
Krystal knew it was because she was trying to be a good role model for her daughters. To Linda Graham, the most important lesson she could teach her daughters was not to make the same mistakes she had. She’d had not one but two teen pregnancies, and she’d made it clear that she wanted her daughters to have a different life than she’d had. It was why she had imposed such strict rules when it came to dating.
No matter how hard Krystal and Carly had tried to convince her they were teenagers who could be trusted, their mother had refused to allow them to date until they were seniors in high school. Both had thought their mother was unfair, but only Krystal had rebelled against her authority, willing to risk punishment for a chance at romance.
The strict rules may have been a good parenting tactic in Linda Graham’s eyes, but to Krystal they had only created distance in their mother-daughter relationship. Her love life became a frequent source of conflict between them that continued into her late teens and early twenties.
It was one of the reasons Krystal had been eager to move out of Fergus Falls. Besides the limited employment opportunities, the town was small enough that it was difficult to keep her personal relationships private. And as long as she lived there, she felt as if her mother was looking over her shoulder into her love life.
Until she moved into 14 Valentine Place, she’d thought most mothers were probably like hers—critical of whomever their children dated. Then she met Leonie. Even though her landlady was a romance coach, she seldom interfered in her sons’ love lives.
Leonie rarely gave anyone unsolicited advice, yet she was always there for moral support when it was needed. Not only did she encourage the young women who rented rooms from her to feel free to come to her if they wanted to talk about relationships, she designated the living room in the house as the great room where discussions of men and romance became a regular occurrence. It wasn’t long before Krystal came to regard Leonie as a second mother, only with this mother she could talk about everything and anything.
At least she had been able to until a few weeks ago. Now that aspect of their relationship had changed. Krystal had made a mistake. A big mistake. And it was one she was reluctant to admit to anyone, and especially to her mother and Leonie.
Instead she would keep it secret. Not easy for someone who usually blurted out whatever was on her mind. Worried that Leonie would be able to detect that she was keeping something from her, Krystal did her best to avoid seeing her landlady.
Today, however, was Tuesday, which meant Leonie wouldn’t be at home. She’d be teaching a class on the dos and don’ts of dating at the community center and that meant the only other person in the boardinghouse would be Dena Bailey, since the third-floor apartment was still vacant.
As she expected, Dena was in the kitchen. When she saw Krystal she said, “Oh good! You’re home. I was hoping I’d see you.” She motioned for Krystal to come sit beside her. “Come join me for a glass of lemonade.”
Krystal shook her head. “I’ll pass on the lemonade, thanks.” She did go over to the refrigerator, however, to get a bottle of water. When she opened the door, the aroma of the leftover parmesan chicken she’d had the night before nearly caused her to bolt toward the bathroom. She didn’t understand how something could taste so good warm yet smell so bad cold that it made her wish she’d never gone near it.
But then so many things made her stomach queasy. Like when she was in an elevator and someone stepped in wearing perfume. Or the pungent smell of gasoline at the service station. Or the tiny bit of oatmeal left in Leonie’s bowl each morning.
Krystal shuddered and willed her stomach to settle itself. When she sat down at the table, she saw Dena had a bridal magazine spread open in front of her.
“What’s up with that? I thought you and Quinn were going to elope.”
“I thought we were, too, but then we sat down to make plans and before I knew it, we’d reserved the church and booked the reception hall. It’s amazing what that guy can talk me into.”
“Must be the power of love,” Krystal remarked, noting the glow on Dena’s cheeks. “So when’s this big day going to happen?”
“September sixth.” Seeing Krystal’s jaw drop open, she quickly added, “I know, it doesn’t give us much time, but we’ve hired a wedding coordinator who assures us it’s possible. Still, I feel as if I have too much to do.”
“I would think so. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Actually, there is. You could be one of my bridesmaids.”
The invitation caught Krystal by surprise. “You want me to be in the wedding?”
Dena nodded and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her response, only Krystal didn’t know what to say. “That is so sweet of you to ask me, but…” She paused, searching for the right words to decline without hurting Dena’s feelings.
“But I shouldn’t have asked because we haven’t been friends all that long,” Dena finished for her, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Krystal. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”
Krystal reached for her hand. “You didn’t. I’m honored that you asked me. The fact that you did says a lot about our friendship.”
“But you still don’t want to do it.”
“I want to, but…” She hated to bring up the subject, but knew she had no choice. “You know I’m pregnant.”
Dena gave her a blank look. “Yeah, so what?”
“So all eyes are supposed to be on you, the bride. By September sixth I’m going to be just far enough along that people will be wondering if I’m having a baby or if I’m just getting fat. You don’t need that kind of distraction at your wedding.”
“Have you been talking to Maddie? She’s worried about the same thing and I’m going to tell you what I told her. It doesn’t matter if your belly sticks out like a watermelon, which it won’t. I want you to be in my wedding.”
Maddie Donovan was a dear friend to both of them. Although she’d already married Leonie’s son Dylan and moved to France before Dena had moved into 14 Valentine Place, her friendship with Dena went back to their college days when they’d been roommates. Had it not been for Maddie, Dena wouldn’t have rented her old room at the boardinghouse and she and Krystal wouldn’t have become friends.
“Is Maddie going to be in the wedding?” Krystal asked.
“Yes. I convinced her that I had found the perfect dress to cover what she refers to her as her walrus-shaped body, although I can’t imagine Maddie looking anything but gorgeous no matter how much weight she gains.”
“Are there dresses that can hide pregnant tummies?”
“Actually, there are.” She thumbed through the magazine until she’d found the page she wanted, then shoved it toward Krystal. “Look at this plum one. See how high the waistline is? It’s perfect for you and Maddie…and my sister-in-law, Lisa, too. She’s going to be my matron of honor, and having had three kids, she also wants to hide her bulges.”
“Don’t dresses in these magazines take months to order?”
“Not a problem. Quinn’s sister has a friend who works in a bridal shop and she says she can put a rush on them and get them in time, but I do need to get moving on this, which is why I really need an answer from you…like today.” She gave her an apologetic grin.
Krystal wanted to say yes. Dena had only lived across the hall from her for six months, yet in that time they’d become good friends. She also liked Dena’s fiancé Quinn, who was the only man Leonie had allowed to live upstairs. A close friend of the family he had become like a brother to Krystal, as well.
“Would it make it any easier for you to say yes if I said you could bring Roy as your date?” Dena asked when she continued to deliberate.
“Good grief, no!” Her response was forceful enough that Dena apologized.
“I guess that means you haven’t worked things out.”
“No, and we aren’t going to.”
“I’m sorry. I thought…with the baby…” She trailed off, looking a bit self-conscious.
Krystal reached across and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have told you before now that Roy isn’t the father of my baby.”
Dena tried not to look shocked, but Krystal knew she was. Although she’d dated many men, Roy had been the only serious relationship she’d had since living at 14 Valentine Place. It was only natural that people would expect that she was carrying his child. Krystal knew it was what most of her friends would think when they learned of her pregnancy.
“Have you told the father?” Dena asked in a quiet voice.
Krystal shook her head. “Not yet. I want to, but it’s complicated.” She wished she could tell her just how complicated it was, but she couldn’t. Not with the wedding only weeks away.
“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help, you’ll let me know, right?”
Krystal nodded. “Thanks for caring, but I’m afraid the only thing you can do is not mention to anyone that I’m pregnant.”
Dena held up her hand. “That goes without saying. I won’t say a word.”
“What about Quinn? He was the one who found my home pregnancy test in the bathroom,” she reminded her.
“Yes, but I’m not sure he even realizes it was yours. At the time I told him it could belong to any one of a number of your friends who’d stayed with you. Don’t forget. He’s lived upstairs so he knows how popular you are.”
“I usually do have people coming and going, don’t I?” she said, hoping Dena was right about Quinn.
“Yes, but if you’re worried, I can speak to him about it.”
“Would you mind?”
“No, not at all. Now, back to my request,” Dena said with an endearing smile. “Will you be my bridesmaid?”
As tempting as it was to decline her request, Krystal could see by the look on Dena’s face how important it was to her. “If you’re sure you want me, then yes, I’d love to be in your wedding.”
Dena leaned over to give her a hug. “Thank you. It’ll be so much easier for me to do this whole wedding thing knowing you and Maddie will be there.”
Easier for Dena maybe, but more difficult for Krystal. “How many people are coming?”
“We wanted to keep it small, but that’s not easy to do when your fiancé is a professional hockey player.” She flipped open her day planner. “Here’s what’s been decided so far.”
They spent the next two hours discussing everything from what music should be played at the church to what lingerie Dena should take on her honeymoon. It was exactly the kind of girl talk Krystal needed and she appreciated the fact that Dena made no other references to her pregnancy.
“So now you know why I’m so nervous,” Dena said as she stacked her day planner on top of the bridal magazine. “By the time this wedding is over, I’m going to be a basket case and you are going to be happy to be rid of me.”
“I most certainly will not be. I hate the thought of you leaving,” Krystal said sincerely. “I’m glad you decided not to move out until after the wedding. Do you know if Leonie has found someone for the third floor?”
“You haven’t heard?” When Krystal gave her a blank look, she continued. “I thought you would know all about it. You see more of Garret than I do.”
Krystal frowned. “Know what?”
“Your plan worked.”
Krystal was puzzled. “What plan?”
“Going with him to the hospital ball to make his old girlfriend jealous. It must have worked.”
Krystal had a bad feeling in her gut and it had nothing to do with morning sickness. “He’s seeing Samantha again?”
“He must be. Why else would she be moving in here?”
Krystal gasped. “No! Oh please, tell me it isn’t true!” she begged.
“Isn’t she the one you said had so many ruffles on her dress at that party that she looked like she could set sail if a gust of wind came up?” Dena asked.
“Yes, and it’s too bad it didn’t,” Krystal retorted.
“Wow! You really don’t like her, do you?”
Krystal could see the curiosity in her eyes and knew she needed to give an explanation. She would have liked to have told Dena the real reason she hated to see Samantha Penrose move into the house, but the bride-to-be didn’t need to get drawn into the melodrama her life had become.
So instead she said, “Don’t pay any attention to me. I’m just in a witchy mood. This early stage of pregnancy is like having PMS 24/7.” She brushed the hair from her forehead and sighed.
“It’s all right, I understand,” Dena assured her.
“Will you please just forget I made a fuss, because I shouldn’t have said anything. That night of the hospital ball I hardly spoke to Samantha. For all I know she could be a very nice person.”
“I don’t think Leonie would have rented the apartment to her if she didn’t think she would fit in here. You know how she is about her tenants,” Dena pointed out.
Krystal nodded. “I’m just surprised she gave her Quinn’s old place. I didn’t think Leonie liked her because of what she did to Garret. You do know that she was the one who left him.”
Dena nodded. “If Leonie had any hard feelings toward her, they’re gone. She spoke very highly of Samantha when she mentioned her to me. Said she was lovely and that she thought we’d get along with her just fine.”
Krystal had to stifle the laughter that nearly spilled out of her. Fortunately Dena’s cell phone rang at that moment.
“I’m sorry, Krys, but I have to take this. It’s Quinn. You don’t mind, do you?”
Krystal shook her head, excused herself and went up to her room. As she climbed the stairs, her legs felt like undercooked pasta. The first thing she did when she got inside her apartment was to collapse on to her bed and stare at the ceiling, stunned by what Dena had told her.
Samantha Penrose would soon be living above her.
If it weren’t so tragic it would be funny, Krystal thought. She threw her shoe at the ceiling and groaned in frustration. This couldn’t be happening to her. Was fate so cruel or had her life suddenly become a black comedy?
She could only wonder what the lovely Samantha was going to say when she found out her new neighbor was pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby.
CHAPTER TWO
“WHAT DO YOU THINK? Wing collar or lay-down?” Quinn Sterling held two pleated shirts up for Garret’s inspection.
Before he could answer, Shane Donovan leaned close to them and said, “Whichever one doesn’t make you feel like you have a rope around your neck.” He made a choking gesture with his hands.
“He does have a rope around his neck,” Dave Duggan was quick to add with a cocky grin.
Shane’s and Dave’s kidding brought back memories of their teenage years when the four of them had been the best of friends and someone was always making a wisecrack. Garret pointed to the shirt on his right. “Go with the wing collar and don’t pay any attention to these guys. Marriage is going to be a good thing for you and Dena.”
“So speaks my brother, the bachelor,” Shane drawled sarcastically.
“Hey—his turn will come. Some woman will get her hooks into him sooner or later,” Dave warned.
Quinn put one of the hangers back on the rack of starched white shirts. “My money’s on later.”
“I’d say sooner, judging by the way women eye him once he puts on that white coat,” Dave teased.
“Quinn has you on this one, Dave. Come the first of the year, Garret’s going to be overseas practicing medicine,” Shane said.
“That doesn’t mean he can’t get married,” Dave pointed out.
Garret would have preferred not to have his bachelor status be the topic of discussion, but he knew you couldn’t put a group of men in a wedding wear shop and not have the usual banter involving women and marriage. Since the only other single guys in the wedding party were hockey players and everyone apparently expected them to be bachelors, Garret was the prime target for their quips.
“Just for the record, as happy as I know married life can make a man, I think I’ll stay single for a while…like five or ten more years,” he added with a huge grin.
“I hope you told that to Samantha Penrose,” Dave remarked.
That had Quinn asking, “Who’s Samantha Penrose and how come I haven’t met her?”
“She’s just a colleague,” Garret answered.
Dave elbowed Shane. “Did you hear that? Just a colleague? Is that any way to talk about your old girlfriend who’s hot for you?”
Quinn shot Garret an inquisitive look. “All right, out with it. What did I miss?”
“Nothing important,” Garret answered. “Samantha and I dated while we were in medical school. Then she left to do her internship, but recently she moved back to take a position at a hospital here.”
“She’s not the doctor who’s taking over my apartment at 14 Valentine Place, is she?” Quinn asked.
It was the first Garret had heard of it. He turned to his brother. “Has Mom rented the third floor to Samantha?”
“Yes and I can tell by the look on your face she didn’t ask you about it before she did,” Shane answered.
No, she hadn’t, and it annoyed him. He wondered what his mother was up to. First she’d finagled him into going to the hospital ball so that he would see Samantha again, now she was moving her into the boardinghouse. It wasn’t like his mother to meddle in his personal life, so just what was going on?
Dave slowly shook his head and whistled through his teeth. “It’s not a good sign, Garret…your old girlfriend moving into a house where there’s a matchmaker.”
“She’s not a matchmaker,” Garret corrected him. “She’s a romance coach.”
Dave shrugged. “Same difference. She hooked Quinn up with Dena, didn’t she? And Dylan with Maddie. Has she had any tenants move out who weren’t getting married? I mean, they move into that place single and the next thing you know…” He clapped his hands. “Bang. There’s a wedding in the works.”
Shane shoved his hands to his hips. “I hadn’t thought about it before, but you’re right. All of her previous tenants are married.”
When Dave began to hum a funeral dirge, Garret stopped him with a raised palm. “You can cut the music. If I ever get married, it will be to someone of my choice, not my mother’s. And I say if because I’m telling you guys, my plans at this time don’t include marriage.”
It was the truth. Right now all he wanted to think about was his career. To finally have the freedom to choose what he wanted to do with his medical training was exhilarating. It made all the struggles he’d been through the past ten years worthwhile.
“Come on, buddy. Are you going to say you don’t have any time for women in those plans?” Dave asked him on a note of disbelief.
“Women yes, marriage no,” Garret said with a sly grin.
Quinn clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s exactly what I said right before I met Dena.”
Garret was relieved that a wedding specialist chose that moment to arrive, and for the next half hour, talk was of tuxedos and accessories. While they were measured and fitted for the formal wear, they discussed their roles as ushers and groomsmen at the wedding and reception.
When a question arose regarding which groomsman would be escorting which bridesmaid down the aisle, Quinn said, “I’m not sure. That’s Dena’s territory.”
“I’ll take the hot redhead who lived downstairs from you,” one of the hockey players offered with a huge grin.
“You mean Krystal.”
Upon hearing her name Garret’s blood stirred. It had always been that way, even before he’d spent the night with her. Someone would mention her name and he’d be aroused. He blamed it on the fact that the first time he’d seen her she’d been half-naked. He could still remember the look of surprise that had been on her face when he’d pushed open the laundry room door at 14 Valentine Place and found her sorting her dirty clothes clad only in a lacy bra and pants.
Ever since that day he had fantasized about what it would be like to see all of that delectable body un-clothed. Never had he expected it to happen, and certainly not on the night of the hospital ball. Only it had happened and now he was having trouble forgetting how she had looked lying naked in his bed.
“Is she seeing someone?” the hockey player asked.
“Are girls that hot ever not seeing someone?” Dave wanted to know. “She probably has guys lining up halfway around the block to take her out.”
“I bet I could get to the front of the line,” boasted the hockey player.
Garret didn’t doubt that he could. He looked like the kind of guy Krystal would find attractive. She liked men who looked as if they spent more time at the gym than they did at a job and dressed as if they were on their way to a GQ photo shoot.
He wondered what everyone would say if he announced that he had been to the front of the line. That he’d spent the night with her and she was everything a fantasy should be and then some.
He chuckled to himself. They probably wouldn’t believe him. Not that he could blame them. He and Krystal were as different as night and day. No one would expect that someone as fun loving and outgoing as Krystal would be attracted to a man who spent most of his free time reading medical journals.
“Knowing Krystal, I bet she already has a date lined up for the wedding,” Quinn commented.
Garret suspected he was probably right. There was no shortage of men in her life. He only hoped that the man she did bring wouldn’t be Roy Stanton. After the way Roy had betrayed her, Garret didn’t want to think she would ever let the creep back into her life. Yet he knew the possibility existed. History had proved that she’d forgive him for almost anything.
“Will you be bringing this Samantha as your date to the wedding?” Quinn interrupted his thoughts.
“Ah…I’m not sure,” he said evasively. Until now he hadn’t considered taking anyone, but if he needed a date, Samantha would be a sensible choice. She was, after all, more his type than someone like Krystal.